


by the silver of the night

by bafflinghaze



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established thing, Full Moon, M/M, Night, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 00:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16336061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bafflinghaze/pseuds/bafflinghaze
Summary: Harry wakes up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar bed—Draco Malfoy’s bed—and he wonders if it means anything.





	by the silver of the night

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [hp-halloween-fest week 3 “Creatures of the Night”](https://hp-halloween-fest.tumblr.com/post/179053258804/week-3-creatures-of-the-night). 
> 
> [[tumblr version]](http://bafflinghaze.tumblr.com/post/179180053048/by-the-silver-of-the-night)

 

Harry wakes up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar bed—Draco Malfoy’s bed—and he wonders if it means anything.

Days, weeks—months, even—of meeting Draco, and it was only last night that one of them invited the other _back_. Somehow, Draco was the braver, demanding in that insecure way of his that Harry come to Malfoy Manor and keep him company during the night.

The room is pitch black, but Harry hears Draco’s soft breaths, feels the gentle roll of his magic. Harry closes his eyes, black on black, and cannot go back to sleep.

There’s something undefinable crawling up his arms, and neither lying with them free nor pressed into the bed alleviates the ache. He’s warm, comfortably so, but he _wants_ to be warmer and he _wants_ to be cooler and he just cannot decide.

He can’t sleep.

As quietly as he can, he fumbles for his glasses and wand and gets up from the bed. With a tiny whisper of a _lumos_ , Harry stands up.

Draco had let Harry look his fill around the bedroom last night, and now, Harry finds himself stepping carefully towards the window. He remembers the view being breathtaking, even as a part of his mind tells him it’s _night_ now, it’s _dark_ now.

Maybe he’s heading towards the window because he wants to escape.

He ends his _lumos_ and draws back the curtains. His eyes widen.

The moon is round, and it feels close, closer than Harry’s ever been to it. Stars carpet the sky, and Harry thinks perhaps there is a reason for Draco’s love for them. Below, the gardens are edged in light, and there are pinpricks of cool gold swirling and warm silver calm.

Harry presses himself against the glass, squinting, wanting to make out all the details. Movement catches his eye, and he looks beyond the garden to the fields. There, the grass sways, not from the wind, but from the movement of a dozen elongated creatures.

Harry watches with quiet breath, and slowly realises that there is pattern in their movements. There is purpose in their movements.

Do the meetings Harry has with Draco constitute a pattern? Is there any purpose in their coupling?

“Harry.”

Harry startles. He turns around, whips the floor-length curtains close and subsequently trips on them as they catch his feet.

Draco’s still in bed, but he has lit a candle.

Harry gets to his feet, flushing. “Draco,” he mumbles, stepping slowly back towards the bed.

Draco lifts the covers and Harry slips underneath, his legs tangling with Draco’s. Draco doesn’t extinguish the candle, and just _looks_ at Harry.

Harry shifts closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you want to leave?” Despite Draco’s words, he splays a hand against Harry’s chest.

“No!” Harry says. “It’s just. I saw.” Harry looks down. “The moon was very pretty. But there’s something out in your fields. Don’t you need to check that out?”

Draco slowly smiles. “Oh, Harry. Those would be the mooncalves.”

“Oh,” Harry says quietly.

“Hmm.” Draco shifts closer, until their faces are a hand-span apart.

Harry wrinkles his nose. “Do I really have to breath your old air?”

Draco’s eyes narrow. “And here I was going to ask you whether you want to go out and feed them.”

“ _Oh!_ ” Harry props himself up on an arm. “Let’s go!” To be honest, he’s definitely not sleepy anymore.

Draco huffs a laugh. They throw on some clothes in the semi-darkness, and whilst holding hands, they step through the dark Manor and out into the gardens.

Up close, Harry can finally make out the silver blooms that are open to the moon; the pale gold are tiny little fireflies. Under Draco’s direction, they pick some of the _brugmansia_ flowers.

The mooncalves are still there, but they stop when Harry and Draco enter the grassy fields. With huge round eyes and a soft fur, Harry finds his heart melting. Draco goes first, and once the bravest of the mooncalves successfully takes a flower, the rest flock towards them.

They’re all so _cute_ and _eager_ and all so willing to eat the flowers straight from Harry’s hands and fingers. They all take so well to Harry’s petting, butting their heads in and crowding around Harry.

Draco shakes his head and laughs, from where he is standing without any mooncalves, and Harry grins back.

Eventually, they have to part; the mooncalves need to go back to their dance, and Harry and Draco need to go back to sleep.

The ache in Harry’s arms are gone, and when they slip back into bed again, Harry’s ready to sleep.

Draco has this terribly indulgent expression on him though, and it makes Harry wonder.

“You invited me back tonight on purpose, didn’t you?” Harry accuses.

“Did I?”

“You’re trying to woo me with cute mooncalves.”

Draco huffs. “An unexpected benefit.”

“What are we doing, Draco?”

“Whatever we both want to do.”

Harry opens his mouth, but then thinks better of it as he considers Draco’s words. Draco _wants_ to do this, whatever _this_ is. Draco’s implying that Harry wants as well. And it’s true, he does. He wants, so much.

“If I—if I call you my partner...” Harry starts and trails off. Now Draco’s smiling, looking rather pleased.

“Well, if you insist,” he says. He tugs Harry closer. “Now, this conversation is horribly fascinating, but I would like to get back to sleep before the sun rises.”

Harry smiles and relaxes. He snuggles up to his partner, skin touching and magic meshing. The bed may not feel familiar yet, but _Draco_ feels familiar, and to that, Harry drifts back to sleep.


End file.
